Cast-steel bottom-drop door



Aug. 6, 1929. A, w|THA| 1,723,318

cAsT sTEEL BOTTOM DROP noon Filed sept. 27. 1928 '""l mlllnlmlnlnnlllmn lv l v K0 2m/mw' Irma/r ai iva/w, Za/ymi/ Patented Aug. 6., 1929,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR WITHALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB T O AMERICAN STEEL FOUN- DRIES, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CAST-STEEL BOTTOK-DBEOP DOOR.

Application med September 87, 1828. Serial No. 308,634.

This invention relates to cast metal doors, and is illustrated herein as embodied 1n a door of a type suitable for use in connection with railway dump cars.

Heretofore there h-as been developed and patented a multitude of doors adapted for use in connection with dump cars, and among these prior developments there are to be found several. patents which relate to doors made in a single piece casting. Such a door is desirable inasmuch as it is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and contains no se arate fastening elements that, owing to t e severe use to Which the doors are put, are likely to break. These desirable considerations notwithstanding, it

has been found that the cast doors of the prior art patents are open to one of sever-al objections: the doors are cast vin such a manner that they are highly subject to breakage, or if cast with the required degree of strength and durability, they are so .heavy and of such a thickness as to render them unpractical in use and operation.

In view ofthe foregoin considerations, the present invention has or an important object thereof the provision of a sing e piece cast door which, although oompan'atlvel thin in cross section, is of sufficient strengt and durability to withstand the shocks and jars to which doors of this type are generally subjected.

The door disclosed in the present application, as well as those disclosed in many of the rior art patents, comprises a substantial y rectangular load en ing surface which is surrounded by a ownwardly de endin lange and is provided with suitab e reenorcements. Heretofore in casting hinge lugs integrally with the door, they have been formed on the outside surface of the ange and in order to reenforce the structure, Webs have been formed which termin-ate on the inside surface of the flange immediately opposite to the hinge lugs. Reenforcements of this nature however, do not tend materially to strengthen the hings inasmuch as the flange is inter-l posed tween the reenforcing members and the hinge lugs, and in use of such doors 5o the hinge lugs are apt to shear or break from the outside surface of the fiange. The reason for this c-an well be appreciated wfhen one considers that a prodigious Weight of material' dumped suddenly upon the load 55 engaging surface of the door must be supported solely by the hinge lugs which join the door to the railway car along one side of the door.

In view of this tendency to shear, the ce resent invention has for an important ob- ]ect thereof, the provision of a single piece door and the lugs when a load is suddenl de osited in a car. Theonly action whic ta es place in loading a car is that the metal in the flange and in the hinge is compressed and this in no way tends to weaken 'or break the door.

'l In order to increase still further the strength and durability of the door and more articularly to prevent the hinge lugs from ing severed from the Bange with which they are connected, the present inven- 30 tion contemplates extending reenforeing members across thelower side of the load engaging surface and terminatin the members by merging them into .the nge 1u s.

Thus, the hinge lugs are,in fact, carried y 35 the reenforcing members and this kind of structure is to be contrasted with the structures of the-prior art in which reenforcin members an the hinge' 1u are dispose on opposite sides of the ownwardly de- 'pending flange.

A further feature of the invention consists in the manner in which the load engaging surface itself is reenforced to prei or undue Warpage. It has DIk vent crackin been found tat a considerable strain is imlarted to the door while the material is ing spilled from the car and this strain flange, and hinge lugs located di- 66 takes place in the direction the material ovvsY in spilling. With this in vievv, the in- 'vention contemplates providing the door with reenforcements extending in the direction the material flows in spilling and in making these reenforcements suiiiciently strong'and heavy to withstand readily the strain which is imparted to the door during a. s illing operation. lnasmuch as the strain imparted to the door in a direction extending transverse to that in which the material flows in spilling is comparatively small, the invention contemplates providing transverse reenforcing members thlat are light whereby a balance between the reenorcing members and the bending strains has been eected.

Another feature of the invention consists in providing the comparatively heavy reenforcing strips with means tor cooperating with apparatus used in opening and closing the door. ln the illustrated embodiment oi the invention, this feature is carried out by providing the reenforcing member With a dat runway over which rollers run in opening and closing the door.

ther objects and features oi the invention `will become apparent from a reading or the following specication in the light o the accompanying drawings in which- Figilre l is a view in perspective of the lower surace of a dump car door;

Figure 2 is a view in sideelevation 015i the door shown in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view or a section et the door;

Fignre 4 is a view in end elevation in section ot the door shovvn in -igure l; and,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view showing a modication of the door shown in ldignre l.

As shown in the drawings, the door cornprises generally an approximately rectangular load engaging surface l0 and a dov-vnvvardly extending peripheral flange l2 which completely snrronnds the outside edge or v the door. As illustrated, the load engagyor vertical ilanges may be employed along the sides Without departing in the least trom the scope oi? the invention. Y

ln order properly te reeniorce the strncture, the opposite ends of the door are reenierced in seine suitable manner. ln the illustrated embodiment of the invention, one lo et the door has been reen'orced aatistnctorily by resorting to the common meente expedient of providing a reentrant iange 18 and the opposite end 14 has been similarly strengthened by employing an ordinary thickened flange 14a. From so much of the description as has been given, it will be understood that the load engagin surface l() is surrounded by a peripheral ange which is ilared outwardly along the sides of the surface and is reenforced in a suitable fashion at the opposite endsl of the surface.

'lo the end of maintaining the door in position `Within the bottom `of a railway dump car, there are provided a plurality or" hinge lugs 24, 24 arranged along one end of the door which, for the sake of convenience, may be termed the hinge end or hinge side. Heretofore, it has been customary to form the hinge lugs on the outside of the flange and in such a osition it has been found that the' lu s realt and shear od thereby rendering t e door inoperative. To the end of preventing this, the

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present invention contemplates forming the hinge lugs in the manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 directly beneath the downwardly depending @ange whereby shearing action is completely eliminated. lt 'will be observed that the hinge lugs are connected tothe end 16 et the door by means or integrally formed connecting portions, but the lugs are, properly speaking, carried by the extremities of reentorcing members 20, 20. These latter named members extend parallel to one anotherfin the lengthwise direction oi the door and are higher than the depending ilange as shown in Figure 2. As also shown in the same gure, the reeniorcing members at their righthand extremities are higher than the ilange and are termed in such a manner as to merge Vinto and carry as inu tegral parte the hinge lugs 24, Spealring'more s ecically, the reenforcing members comprise rnnvva s 2G across the surface of which are adapte `to travel rollers utilized in opening and closing the door, and ilange or web portions 22, 22 located beneath the runways 20, 20. The reenforcing members which are composed of the runways 20, 20 and vvebs 22, 22 extend in a direction that the load moves in dnmping and since it has been lionnd, that during the dumping operationk a considerable strain is imparted to the door in the direction the material is moving, these reenorcing niembers are made considerably heavy in order properly to withstand sach strain. @n the other hand, the strain imparted to the door in a direction transverse to that in which the load moves is comparatively small and in order to provide a balanced proportion between the strains and the reeniorcements, a plurality of comparatively light or small reenlelrcing webs 30, Btl entend transversely of the heavy reenterci g members and serveproperly to brace door transversely or the direction in which the load nieves in spilling or dumping.

As shown in Figure 5, the downwardly depending flange is indi iatedbv the reference numeral 32 and is reenforced by means of llet members 34. It is to be appreciated,

- however, that the flanges may be strengthened by the employment of any common expedient, as, for example, reentrant flanges may be provided on the side 14 of the door in place of the thickened portion lelf.

It has been heretofore pointed out that in casting a door that is reenforced and constructed in the aforedescribed manner a panel comparatively thin in cross. section may serve for the load engaging surface and this is an extremely important aspect of the invention since the features of lightness and inexpensiveness are important factors in the manufacture of these doors.

It has been stated that the door is a cast door and it is to be understood that the materials employed in casting the door may be any suit-able metals or combinations of metals, as, for example, aluminum, metal alloys, etc. It is likewise to be understood that the invention contemplates changesand modifications in design and construction which will from time to time occur to those skilled in the art and it is to be recognized that the introduction of such changes into other doors will not effect a departure from the scope of the present invention as pointed out in the a pended claims.

Having t us described iny invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is: f

l. A single piece cast door for dump ears, comprising, a load engaging surface, a downwardly extending flange arranged peripherally of the load engaging surface, a plurality of reenforcing members extending parallel to one another across the lower side of the load engaging surface, and hinge lugs integrally formed directly upon the extremities of the reenforcing members.

2. A single piece cast door for dump ears, comprising, a load engaging surface, a downwardly extending flange arranged peripherally of the load engaging surface, a plurality of reenforcing members extending parallel to one another across the lower side of the load engaging surface, and hinge lugs integrally formed directly upon the extremities of the reenforcing members, said reenforcing members .being shaped to co-op crate with apparatus for use in opening and closing'- the door.

3. A'single piece cast door for dump ears, comprising, a load engaging surface, a downwardly extending flange arranged peripherally of the load engaging surface, a plurality of reenforcing members extending parallel to one another across the lower side of the load engaging surface, and hinge lugs -lower edge of the flange being widened along one side of the door, a plurality of reenforcing members extending across the lower side of the load engaging surface, and a plural ity of hinge lugs carried directly upon the extrennties of the reenforcing members, said hinge lugs being integrally connected to the widened lower edge of the flange.

y 5. A single piece cast door for dump cars, comprising, a load engaging surface, a downwardly extending flange arranged peripherally of the load engaging surface, and a plurality of integrally formed hinge lugs located directly beneath the said flange.

6. vA single piece cast door for dump cars, comprising, a load engaging surface, a downwardly extending flange arranged periphcrally of the load engaging surface, and a plurality of integrally formed hinge lugs located directly beneath the said flange, and carried by an equal plurality of reenforcing members.

7. A single piece cast door for dump cars, con'iprising, a load engaging surface, :t downwardly extending flange arranged peripherally of the load engaging surface, and a plurality of integrally formed hinge lugs4 located directly beneath the said flange, said hinge lugs being carried by an equal plurality of reenforcing members and being connected to the flange by means of integrally cast connecting portions.

8. A single piece cast door for dump cars, comprising', a load engaging surface, a plurality of comparatively heavy reenforcing members extending beneath the under side of the load engaging surface in the direction in which the load moves in dumping, and a plurality of comparatively light reenforcing flanges extending transversely of the heavy reenforcing members.

9. A single piece cast door for dump cars, comprising, a load engaging surface, a plurality of comparatively heavy reenforcing members extending beneath the under side of the load engaging surface in the direction in which the load moves in dumping, and a plurality of comparatively light reenforcing flanges extending transversely of the heavy reenforcing members, said latter named members being provided at their terniinalswith integrally cast hinge lugs.

10. A single piece cast door for dump cars, comprising a load engaging surface, a plurality of comparatively...heavy reenforcing llO members extending beneath the under side of the load engaging surface in Jche direction in which the load moves in dumping7 and a plurality of comparatively light reenforcing [langes extending transversely of the heavy reenforcing members and terminatin 1 short thereof, said heavy members being ormed messie Vand with integrally east hinge lugs.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 24th day of September, 1928. i

ARTHUR WITHALL. 

